We're On a Mission!

San Jose Pacho

Our arrival to this aldea on Wednesday was very special. We received a very warm welcoming with flowers and the children were excited to start the activities for the day. All children were actively participating in all the activities and happy to see we were there. We shared songs, dance, and games. Both, the children and teachers were fully engaged in the activities.

We were also happy to spend time with the children in their classrooms. Even though there were more students in the classrooms than usual, all of them were actively participating in the arts and crafts activity.

IAN: A little while after we preformed our skits, some kids came up to me and called me “Juan”, a character I played in the skit. I found it quite interesting because that did not happen when we preformed our skit to the two other aldeas we visited, and quite frankly I thought of that as a way as to say that our skit had an impact on them.

During faith formation, we discussed the topic of the works of mercy, forgiveness, shared a testimony of faith, and instructed attendants about the importance of praying the rosary. We were glad to see that people had many questions about what we had shared, and we were eager to answer all their questions. Some of the adults attending the Adult formation session brought their children with them. To the children, we provided coloring pages with the works of mercy, and they were very happy to be able to do this activity.

VILMA: I was so touched by a letter I received by one little girl that came to the adult formation session. I was showing her how to color the page titled “The Works of Mercy”. After we came back from the aldea, while I was checking all the leftover materials we were going to organize to donate to the church, I found a letter she wrote where she said, “Thank you for sharing all your love and faith with us Ms. Vilma”. She drew and colored a heart in the middle of the page for me. She made me feel so special.

After these activities, we shared mass with the community and were happy to see the church full of people.

During our break, the community provided a nice lunch for us. We felt very grateful for their generosity.

After we finished all our day activities, we started our home visits. During one of our home visits, the father performed the anointing of the sick, and provided our food pantry donations to those in need.